Sovereign of the Ashes

After leaving Hydrallis, Sein crossed several more star domains with the Huusian fleet, passing by over ten complete planes along the way.

With the Zeak Empire’s force leading the way, his party traveled much faster than before.

What might have taken him over a century on his own was now accomplished in just twenty-two years.

But when they arrived at a special star domain known as the Crimson Sea, Sein knew it was time to part ways with the Huusian fleet.

Before them stretched a breathtaking expanse of crimson cosmic space.

In the Astral Realm, countless special regions were governed by unique laws, and this red-hued domain was one of them.

As they passed through, not only did the Huusian fleet deliberately slow down, but even the Zeak Empire’s force reduced its speed.

In reality, the crimson space posed no real danger. It was simply a peculiar environment that forced anything moving too fast to slow down upon entering.

By contrast, the surrounding laws had no effect on anything that moved at a steady, slower pace.

Tearing through space, however, became extremely difficult here.

After analyzing the situation, Sein concluded that while he stayed in this region, others would find it far harder to predict or divine his future.

So, as an interstellar traveler, he decided this was the right place to leave.

With countless Astral Realm creatures exploring or passing through the Crimson Sea each year, Sein’s departure from the main group would be hardly noticeable.

And since he was not Huusian, he was not obligated to accept employment from the Zeak Empire or report to a designated star domain.

When he finally departed from the Huusian fleet, only a few people noticed.

The Huusian King, busy with the upcoming employment arrangements with the Zeak Empire, had probably already forgotten about him.

At the base of the planetary fortress, only two came to see him off.

The one with flowing long hair was, of course, Gwyneira.

She could not understand why Sein was leaving, nor why he rejected her affection.

The other, with short hair and a neat appearance, was Gwyneira’s younger sister, whom Sein had only met twice.

Though Gwyneira was older, she was less mature than her younger sister in some ways.

Even her younger sister could see that Sein had no interest in her, but Gwyneira still refused to give up.

Sein suspected this might be the side effect of soul magic.

Even though he had already lifted the soul binding spell on Gwyneira, the mark carved deep into her soul was not so easily erased.

Of course, it could also be that Gwyneira had “truly fallen in love” with him.

Maybe it was because of the divination from the hexagonal treasure box, or because Sein had once risked his life to save her.

Either way, love and affection were never easy to understand.

But Gwyneira never knew that the very first time Sein saw her, he had actually intended to kill her on the spot.

“Let’s part ways here. I’ll remember this experience. Thank you for giving me a ride,” Sein said to the two sisters.

Compared to her elder sister, Gwyndira was more of a tomboy. She was just as powerful as Gwyneira.

At Sein’s words, Gwyndira nodded and pulled her elder sister closer.

Gwyneira tried her best to hide the sadness and reluctance in her eyes, then motioned to her younger sister that she wished to speak with Sein privately.

Gwyndira rolled her eyes and gave an indifferent shrug before strolling to the other side of the ship, making it clear she had no intention of eavesdropping.

Gwyneira stepped closer to Sein and whispered, “Can you tell me your real name, Bousse?”

A flicker of surprise crossed Sein’s face, though he hid it quickly. Thanks to the Faceless Mask, Gwyneira noticed nothing.

As he wondered how she had figured out he was using an alias, she explained softly, “I consulted the Hexagonal Treasure Box again. My ancestors told me that this is not your true name.”

“Rest assured, I have not told anyone else,” she added.

Sein nodded. “I do use aliases when traveling through the Astral Realm to avoid unnecessary trouble. After spending time with you, I can see the Huusians really are a warm and courteous race. I apologize for my earlier caution.”

“My name is Sein. Thank you for all your help.” He extended his hand.

Gwyneira reached out with her right hand and shook his, making their first physical contact since their initial meeting.

Sein was a common name in the Astral Realm.

Besides, Sein had spoken his name in the Bokrian pronunciation, which sounded completely different than how it really was in the Magus World tongue.[1]

Telling someone his true name was a rare show of sincerity for Sein.

He was still deeply surprised that Gwyneira had managed to figure out his real name was not Bousse.

After all, beings at Rank Four and above possessed extraordinary life energy, which made it extremely difficult for lower-ranking beings to divine anything about them.

Even same-rank divination was no easy feat.

Sein could not help but reach out and run his fingers lightly through Gwyneira’s hair.

At the roots, he noticed faint signs of withering and yellowing.

It seemed she had burned through a portion of her own lifespan just to divine something about him.

His “intimate” gesture made Gwyneira’s already pink cheeks turn an even deeper shade of red, like the starry space around them.

Not far away, Gwyndira caught a glimpse and muttered a curse under her breath in the Huusian dialect—something that roughly meant Sein was a scumbag.

Why was he still flirting with her elder sister when he had already made up his mind to leave?

Thankfully, they had not done anything more during their time together.

Otherwise, even if Gwyneira might have let him go, their father would never have allowed Sein to leave so easily.

Sein withdrew his hand. He felt that Gwyneira’s ability to see through the alias was not just because of her bloodline or the life force she had sacrificed, but also because she shared a kind of fate with him.

And fate was a mysterious thing.

The astrologers of Magus World, who had devoted their lives to studying it, believed that everything was bound up in its threads.

Because of fate, Gwyneira and Sein had crossed paths in the vast Astral Realm.

And because of that same fate, she had even managed to find out through divination that his name was not Bousse, even though her life level was lower than his.

After a moment of thought, Sein took out a small trinket he had crafted not long ago and placed it in her hand.

It was a “green bubble” that could grow and expand.

The Bokrians had a custom of bathing inside such bubbles.

With that, Sein gave the sisters a wave before stepping into his spacecraft and departing.

As the vessel pulled away, he glanced back and saw Gwyneira still watching him.

For some reason, even without much knowledge of astrology, Sein had a strong feeling he would meet the sisters again one day.

1. Translator’s Note: For those who are confused about the pronunciation... English names can sometimes sound very different in Mandarin due to the syllables in the language.

For example, Adele, the singer, is Adai’er in Mandarin (pronounced like ”Ah-Dye-Urgh”). Sein is actually Sai’en in Mandarin (pronounced like ”Sigh-Urn”). ”Sign” would have been the closest phonetic match in English, but it doesn’t read nice, so I chose ”Sein” in the end. ☜